We performed our act, 'Here Come the Brides' to a great reception. The first set sees 3 Brides arrive for their wedding at Manchester Cathedral, to be met with the dawning realisation they are all there to marry the same man. This involved a long walk for each Bride down Market Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in the centre. Each of us got a lovely warm reception from passers by, who commented on how beautiful our dresses were, and one man even offered to get his car so that he could drive Mary to the Church rather than having her walk on her own. At the Cathedral itself some builders joined in the story, advising the Groom which Bride he should choose, and even the Vicar was enjoying the action. The walk back down Market street at the end of this set was very different to the first, with all three Brides now grouped together with faces like thunder. We were met with shouts of 'Did he not turn up?' and 'I'll marry you', and ironically accompanied to the strains of 'Here Comes the Bride' by some helpful buskers. Matt, our Groom, followed at a distance, or hid behind burly workmen,one passerby commenting to him 'You've got some decisions to make, young man...'
We made our next appearance on the tram network, shuttling in various configurations between Piccadilly Gardens and Cornbrook tram stops. Here's what one onlooker emailed to the Festival:
I happened to be going to Manchester on the Tram with my 84 year old Mother, who was visiting us from California.
The 'Bride and Groom' performance was really quite convincing at
first [...] I have to admit being fooled in the
early stage of the performance, but when the girl began to sing ' I
cried a river over you,' with such a professional and well trained voice, I just burst out laughing. It was terrific, my Mother will be telling everyone in Santa Barbara about it !
Thank you so much Manchester, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable experience.
Let's have a lot more of them.
James Hadfield-Hyde
We couldn't agree more, James.
Also big thanks to whoever started the tweet that lead to Cat's picture appearing on The Sun newspaper's twitter feed, with a call to arms to find that Bride! Cat feels particularly proud to have fulfilled a lifelong ambition to appear in The Sun, having always been held back in the past by the size of her assets.
Our final set was played out in glorious Piccadilly Gardens, where Matt received 3 whole pints in the face, Mary slid across the rain-soaked ground like Bambi whilst trying to execute a cartwheel, and a whole crowd gathered to witness the final showdown. All in all, a great day.
So we just want to say a massive thanks to Jenny, Rachel and Phil at Lost and Found, not only for the opportunity but also the huge support that they have given to us, Maz from Albino Mosquito and Sam Ryley for some wicked photos and video footage, Avi from Contact Theatre for his great hosting and bouncer skills, and finally Ben Entwisle for offering to smuggle Cat in his suitcase to Germany. She nearly took him up on the offer.
Oh, and also the glorious people of Manchester. Wouldn't have been any fun without you.
